The Adventures of 2 Reporters and a Captain
by Dorky Tinsle Chik
Summary: What if... a girl reporter hung out with out favorite red head reporter? What if she was shy and not good at making friends? What if she got mixed up in the whole adventures of Tintin? A response to a request from Lily. Takes place during the movie, contains Ocs. Written by Mary and Jewel author duo.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Hey hey readers! This is Mary! Previous author to Tintin and Eleanor. To my faithful readers.. SO sorry for not updating Eleanor in a long time. I guess you can say I kinda went into a study mode of looking at other stories and getting the background involved in a story. Or, some of you can just call me lazy. Whateva ya want. ANYways... I received a request thingy from a … Miss Lily. Lily, thanks so much, your support is most appreciated. SO! This story, all my effort is dedicated to you. Lily. So, once you can, check this story out, and lemme know if it's to your liking. If it is, I'll continue, if it ain't, I'll scratch it and try again. Also, I'm working on some cover art at the mo', so soon you should get an idea of what the new OC in this story looks like. Again, if you like it, it stays, if not, it's scratched. Now, briefly, I just want to go over stuff you guys may put in reviews. If it is hateful, go ahead and be hateful. But please. Please. PUGH_LEASE! No bad language. I don't care if it is direct or implied. Keep it g-rated folks. Please. And nothing suggestive either. I'm UBER sensitive, kay?**

**Now, little back story, this takes place during the movie of the Adventures of Tintin. So if some of this doesn't make sense... watch the movie. ALSO, all the lines are quoted from MEMORY, because I couldn't find the dang script. So, if I get any lines wrong, please don't shoot me, but if you CAN find the script, tell me where, and I will see about corrections. Anyway, ENJOY!**

"Ve'y neal'y there, monsieur," the artist informed the journalist who was posing in front of him as he added the finishing touches on a small cartoon portrait.

"You 'ave a ve'y familia face, monsieur, have I drawn you befo'e?" the artist asked.

"Occasionally," supplied the journalist. A small smile bloomed on the artist's face.

"Of cou'se!" he said, "I've seen you in the newspape'. You are a reporter?"

"I'm a journalist," Tintin corrected politely.

A small fox terrier whined at the journalist, not liking sitting still for so long. Tintin only pat the dog's head.

"Hang on, Snowy, just a little bit longer."

Snowy only whined again and looked down before catching a small glimpse of a black and long twitching object. Snowy stood up from his sitting position and took a few steps forward; searching for the object. He sniffed.

_Cat._

_ Cat..._

Snowy took off in the smell's direction, weaving around a particularly busy street filled with vendors on market day. Occasionally catching a peek of a black and gray (not that anything wasn't black or gray in his vision) stripes and green eyes. (Though they also appeared gray to him.) Suddenly another smell other than an infernal feline caught his attention. Snowy turned towards it in an attempt to get a better whiff.

_Cotton gloves._

_ Strong aftershave._

_ Leather._

_ Lots._

_ Lots and lots of leather._

_ With paper inside._

Snowy looked around and saw the thick cotton gloves. They flexed around a bit before dancing around. Tapping other people's shoulders, slipping into coats and pulling out leather without being seen or heard.

_That isn't right..._

All thoughts of a twitching feline tail vanished as he took a few more steps toward the suspicious man with cotton gloves as said person slipped another folded bit of leather from someone's coat. Without being caught.

_What is wrong with these bipedal senses?_

"Snowy? Snowy!" The master's voice called out. Snowy obediently stopped.

"Where've you been? Chasing cats again?" Tintin inquired, bending down to pet his dog in front of market vendor that was peppered with various mirrors. Snowy barked. Tintin looked up a bit as a small shining glare had caught his eye. There, in a mirror was perhaps the most fine detailed model ship he had ever seen. Not saying that he was always particularly looking for model ships, but he had seen a few.

"Snowy... Look at this!" he said, excitedly, a grin forming on his face. Tintin turned around to look at the small glass case with the ship sitting inside.

"Triple masted... double decked... fifty guns... Isn't she a beauty?" Tintin murmured to himself as he moved around the case, taking in every detail.

"Indeed... A fine specimen," said a small feminine voice that sounded rather lost in deep thought and was just barely laced with a british accent. Tintin looked up from the amazing ship to find the owner of the voice. A young woman, about his height and age stood there, one hand across her ribs propping up her other arm up to her face. Her pointer finger resting against her right temple and the rest laced around her chin in a thoughtful stance.

She had very light hazel eyes, some freckles sprinkled high upon her cheeks and very round naturally pink lips that were pursed in thought. She had very long billowing black hair going down her back, with a baby blue headband to keep it out of her face. What was rather strange about this contemplative woman was one of her long bangs that hid her forehead held a thin lock of bright cyan colored hair that led up straight to the roots on the back of her head.

The woman wore a short sleeved v-necked button up blouse with a fin collar. Only the sleeves of the blouse were a light blue, the rest of blouse sporting an darker indigo. She also donned a skirt with gray and light blue to match her blouse horizontal stripes, indigo leggings, and blue ballet flats.

Tintin just blinked up at her from his nearly kneeling position. The vendor clerk sitting nearby perked up.

"You'll never find another one like it. Built by a famous sea captain it was, in the eighteenth century."

Knowing that couldn't be right, Tintin opened up his mouth to correct the owner, only to blink up in mild bewilderment at the woman who spoke first.

"Actually it was the seventeenth century."

"...One in the time of Charles the Third..." the vendor clerk continued, partially ignoring the woman's correction.

"Charles the Second," Tintin and the woman corrected in unison. The woman's eyes finally turned away from her stare on the ship and made contact with Tintin's. Tintin slowly offered a half smile, suggesting maybe their chorused agreement may have been humorous. The woman quickly looked away to the ground, shifted her weight, crossed her arms and bit her bottom lip as if she was embarrassed. Tintin narrowed his eyes slightly in confusion.

"That's what I said: Charles the Second," the clerk had went on. Tintin turned his attention back to the ship, and from the corner of his eye saw that the woman did the same. Snowy moved around to the woman, bristled and then growled. The woman looked back down at him, slightly startled.

"Snowy, down!" Tintin commanded softly, before briefly making eye contact with the woman again. The woman just blinked. "Sorry," he said, offering another faint smile and trying to calm down his dog at the same time. The woman just nodded almost curtly and looked back at the ship. Tintin almost frowned.

"Can I sell it to either of yeh, then?" offered the clerk, not noticing this girl's brief and slightly rude behavior.

"Oh.. well, she was here first," said Tintin, gesturing to the girl who had been busily stroking her chin, trying to ignore the awkwardness and look more like she was musing over the ship again. The woman flinched as attention was turned to her, flicking her eyes from Tintin to the clerk and then to the ship.

"Oh! Ah. Well..." she muttered quietly. Tintin almost had to strain to hear her voice that just moments before was very distinguishable and occupied with thought.

"It... it's very tempting... but.. ah.. I..I may already have too many model ships, n-not saying that this one isn't remarkable, of course. But.. I, uh... no thank you," she rambled a bit and then stepped aside. The clerk just rose an eyebrow at her and then turned to Tintin.

"What about you, eh?" he offered. Tintin looked back down at the ship.

"...I'll give you a pound?" he suggested.

"Done." said the clerk, and rose to claim said price. The woman just stared on at the ship as the clerk received his money and opened the case to gently lift out the model. She appeared occupied in her thoughts once more, as if the model had just asked her a lengthy question and she was deciding the best way to answer. She didn't appear longing or envious; just wondering and contemplating about the model. Once the ship was in the hands of the journalist, a man with a very long nose, black mustache and light blue suit pushed through the crowd and clapped a hand on the clerk's shoulder.

"Hey bub, how much for the boat?" he asked in a fairly gruff voice that was dripping with anxiousness.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I just sold it to this young gent," he explained, gesturing to Tintin. Tintin smiled gratefully at him.

"Oh yeah?" the man lay an arm across Tintin's shoulders and turned him away from the clerk. "Kid, tell me what you payed, and I'll give ya double," he promised.

"Double?!" exclaimed the clerk incredulously. The woman watching from the sidelines only rose her eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, but it's not for sale," said the journalist, slightly confused.

"Look kid, I know you don't really know what the big deal is here," said the man in the blue suit, releasing Tintin and circling him. "But you are about to enter a whole mess of danger."

"Danger? What danger?" Tintin asked, following him as he banded around. The man's eyes suddenly went wide and he nervously pointed at Tintin and then to the model.

"I'm warning ya... Git rid of the boat and get out while ya still can. These people do _**not**_ play nice!" he said fearfully before turning and jogging away.

"What? What people?" Tintin asked slowly and bewildered, watching him go.

"Wonderful!" said a debonair voice right behind him. Tintin turned around quickly with a slight gasp to see a man with a red suit and a very pointy beard. Who was looking at the model in his hands.

"It's just... wonderful. Don't bother wrapping it up, I'll just take it as is. Does anyone object if I pay by check?" he asked, already taking out a checkbook and turning to the clerk.

"If yeh wanna buy it, you'll have to talk to the kid," said the clerk, annoyed. Tintin gave him another appreciative nod and turned back to the gentleman in front of him. The gentleman only rose an eyebrow and eyed Tintin over the rims of his small round spectacles.

"Really?" he asked, and clicked a ball point pen. "Well, let the _kid_, name his price." He turned back to his checkbook.

"Name his price?" parroted the clerk, sitting down in a flabbergasted manner. "Ten years I been flogging brick-a-brack and I miss 'Name his price' by one _bleatin_' minute!"

"I'm sorry, but I already just explained to the other gentleman-" Tintin started to explain politely.

"American he was. All hair oil and no socks," added the clerk. The woman on the sidelines blinked at him and cocked her head, wondering what he meant.

"It's not for sale," Tintin finished. The gentleman only stared at him a moment, clicked his pen again and tucked both it and his checkbook away in his coat before sighing and circled Tintin just as the other man had, stopping just as he was on the other side of him. Tintin just followed him.

"Well.. then let me try to appeal to your.. better nature. That ship was one of the last possessions inside the Haddock Estate-" the gentleman began.

"Of the late sea captain," Tintin interrupted with a nod.

"The family hit upon hard times. We are talking... _generations_ of...drinking and _irascible _behavior. I have recently acquired Marlinspike Hall: the old Haddock Estate..." the gentleman continued.

"I'm sorry. But as I told you before," said Tintin, cutting him short and tucking the ship possessively under his arm. "It's not for sale. Good day to you, sir." Tintin turned and left. The gentleman stared after him, attaining a refined position.

"That young man... who is he?" he asked the clerk without shifting his gaze.

"Him?" the clerk asked incredulously, pointing at Tintin. "Everyone knows him! That's _Tintin_."

The woman looked after Tintin as he walked out of the market, raising her eyebrows. Really? That was _him_? She hoped she didn't seem rude to the young man, but attention from strangers was just one of the things she couldn't bear and made her very awkward. Even if they were the friendliest strangers. Just something about things she wasn't familiar with she repelled from by default.

A familiar flicking black and gray striped tail that had previously caught the attention of a certain little white dog tapped against her legs. The woman looked down.

"Maddy! You silly cat, I've been looking all over for you," she scolded lightly as she reached down and scooped the little mackerel tabby into her arms.

"No wonder that little dog growled at me.. I probably smell like you," the woman added with a chuckled before leaving market herself.

**AN: Whew. That's it. Bam. Did you like it? If you did, you can review. Or not. Maybe I can feel the waves of your appreciation through the screen if you don't review. Hey, ya never know until you try. So, review if you wanna, and please, again, nothing in profanity. This story is supposed to be fun, sweet, and innocent. Please don't taint it. **

**ALSO! Jewel, the official owner of the account that I am mooching off of will be receiving your brownie points for taking role of co-author and publisher. **

**Kay, dat's it. Bye. **


	2. Chapter 2

**_Mary:_ Updation updation alert! I had it a little easy this week. And I had time to make the cover, do you guys like it? (There is a small blemish on the paper on Tintin's collar bone. Sorry.) Okay, shoutouts, **

**Thanks so much Dancer1023! You're awesome, a true blue Tintin fan, I checked out your profile (I'm not a stalker, don't worry) and I think you're cool. **

**To Tinsnow: also a true blue Tintin fan, according to your name. I will follow your advice on the script. So, from now on, the script will be about half on the dot, due to how my memory serves, and the change of story! A single character can change a lot about what people say. And certain actions change them too. For those of you that have seen MiB 3, you may remember that the fact that J had drunk chocolate milk that morning somehow changed the fate of him dying and switched it to a girl named Cindy dying. It makes no sense unless you follow the trail of what action provoked what. I thought it was clever, so, kudos to Tinsnow. **

**THANK YOU delphigirl689 for favoriting me!**

**Please remember, if you're gonna review, no profanity or anything that implies it. I am much obliged to you and will bring digital cookies if this good behavior continues. Now, to the story, it zooms in a little more to the woman dressed in blue. Enjoy!**

The woman dressed in blue carefully dusted around her model ships on the shelves of the apartment she lived in as she tidied around. She carefully picked up perhaps her very favorite and held it up to her face fondly.

"The USS Constellation...laid down in June, 1853. Launched in August, 1854. Commissioned in July, 1855. A sloop of war with twenty officers, two hundred and twenty sailors, and forty five marines...Known mostly for being the flagship of the African Squadron and disrupting the slave trade. Wonderful," she mused as she carefully dusted between it's masts. The tabby by her legs meowed feebly.

"Oh, I'm sorry Maddy, I almost forgot your lunch, didn't I?" the woman said, carefully setting back the model and making her way into the kitchen. Maddy the cat eagerly followed.

"I wonder if I should have gotten that other model, Maddy. The Unicorn I believe it was called. So many other people wanted to get it, you see. That other young man, Tintin it was, wanted to get it as well, but was very polite in letting me have a chance at it." The woman took down a can from her pantry and began to open it.

"But of course, I sort of panicked when both he _and_ the vendor occupant had their eyes locked on me," the woman paused to shudder. "It's hard enough to talk to one person I don't know at all, but when both are expecting an answer, and I don't wish to make them wait long for it you know..." the woman trailed off.

Maddy, who seemed to understand her, began rubbing up and down against her legs comfortingly. The woman smiled and bent down to pet her faithful feline.

"Most people don't console themselves by talking to their cats... Don't most people have _other_ people to talk to?"

Maddy only looked at her and meowed as if to say: _'You're not _like_ most people, Dana._' The woman only sighed.

"It was a lot easier when Father was here, you know. To talk to people I didn't know," she muttered. Maddy only rested her head on the woman's knee and began to purr rhythmically. The woman chuckled and continued beginning to feed her cat.

"There is something about you, Maddy my girl, I just can never stay unhappy with you around." Maddy only meowed happily. Once the food was before her cat, the woman looked out of her window in the living room, falling back in thought. Then she started and looked closer at the figure walking down the street. He happened to sport a familiar quiff of red hair and a tan trench coat, and was holding a familiar model ship under his arm.

"Well look who it is," mused the woman, following the man with her eyes. She blinked in surprise when she saw him enter the building right next to the one she was in.

"Oh my-... I've been living in this apartment for four years, and in all that time, I _never_ noticed that I lived right across the street from Tintin?" she asked herself incredulously. Suddenly she noticed a window in the building across from hers, going a floor or two lower than her own. Through the glass she saw Tintin take off his trench coat, revealing a blue sweater with the color of an undershirt peeking out, and watched as he set his new ship somewhere out of her line of view, and then stood back.

Tintin's mouth moved as if he was talking to himself, and he began to look around to room. He paused at the window and looked out of it with a distant look, like he was trying to remember where he had left something. He caught sight of the woman, widened his eyes a bit with recognition, then smiled gently and hesitantly rose his hand, meaning to wave.

The moment the woman processed he recognized her, she gasped in panic, and in one swift motion pulled the string that lowed blinds over her window. The room darkened at her fast action, and back in his apartment, Tintin only frowned and lowered his hand. Then, sighing, he turned back to his own business.

"Well... best be looking for a magnifying glass to see about that ship..." he murmured as he crossed the room, into his own apartment and searched his desk for said item. Suddenly Snowy growled.

"Snowy?" Tintin asked. Snowy barked as Tintin finally found his magnifying glass and turned, just to see an impish and bratty siamese cat yowl at him. Snowy snapped and began to chase the cat all around the room.

"Snowy! Snowy no!" Tintin yelled. Trying to catch either the frantic siamese or the barreling fox terrier, and failing miserably. The siamese climbed the curtains, ripping them to shreds, knocked over vases and had somehow managed to put Snowy's head through a painting. She ran through the door quickly, causing Snowy to recklessly crash into the same cabinet with the Unicorn resting on the edge, knocking it to the floor and cracking one of the masts.

Tintin was able to catch his vase, but the Unicorn was not so fortunate. Staring at the Unicorn now in slight horror, Tintin made his way to his feet and picked it up, testing the now broken mast.

"Look... Snowy, you broke it! Bad dog!" Tintin scolded. At the moment, only the faithful dog noticed the strange metal phial fall out of the mast and roll partially under the cabinet. Hoping to be redeemed for the scolding, Snowy tried to paw it out but only succeeded in pushing it farther out of his reach.

Meanwhile, Tintin was still musing to himself about the ship. Finally he spoke up.

"Something had happened on this ship Snowy," he said, putting down the ship and putting on his trench coat. "And we... are going to the one place we can find out, come on!" he said, going out the door and calling his dog, but never bothering to put the vase back in it's proper spot off the floor or to even fix the overturned furniture.

At that moment, the woman in blue, still recovering over the slight embarrassment and shock from the incident at the window, decided to try and forget it by going out and running some errands. Commanding her wild but loyal cat to stay near her, she grabbed her handbag and went out the door at about the same moment Tintin came charging out.

They did not crash into each other, being a whole street apart from each other, but they ran out and nearly the same moment, accidently locking eyes and immediately recognizing each other for the second time. The woman's cheeks turned red from shyness and humiliation so much it partially hid her rather dark freckles. She gulped at him and turned and walked briskly down the street, hoping that perhaps Tintin would go his own way, hopefully the opposite direction.

For a moment Tintin starred after her. He wasn't going to follow her. He really wasn't. But Snowy, recognizing the woman's companion mainly by that obnoxious twitching tail, snapped for the second time in less than five minutes and took off barking viciously.

"Snowy! No, stop!" Tintin yelled. Snowy stopped right in front of the cat. The cat did not run, but simply eyed him as if to ask _'...Can I help you?'_

Snowy only growled and bristled as the cat simply watched him. The woman had paused and was watching the two with mild amusement. Her cat, Maddy, was a very odd sort of cat. She never thought that running from dogs, unless they threatened to bite, was really worth her time. If a dog ever got too annoying, she'd quickly shut him up with a small and hardly painful swipe of her razor sharp claws.

If a dog ever threatened to bite, she would cleverly jump behind them and then up on to their backs clinging on with her claws. Usually the dog would yowl and take off running, and if it turned it's head to try and bite her off, Maddy would only take a swipe at it's nose. She wouldn't get down until she felt that the dog in question had sufficiently learned it's lesson.

Snowy had no intention to bite the revolting creature unless it posed as a larger threat to him or his master, but cats alone were such horrid creatures, he always liked to scare them away before their evil thoughts involved him or his master. For some reason, his normal vicious growling, barking, and bristling routine didn't seem to be doing anything at the moment.

The woman, not knowing how long this would continue, slowly bent down to pick up Maddy. By now, Tintin had caught up with them.

"Snowy! Down!" he commanded. Snowy whined but slowly dropped his routine. Tintin looked up at the woman, who had gotten back up when Snowy stopped.

"Terribly sorry about that, ma'am," he said kindly. The woman gulped and nodded.

"Oh.. th-that's alright," she said, and cleared her throat. Tintin smiled at her and stated what they both knew.

"You're the lady who wanted to buy the Unicorn, right?" he asked. The woman nodded hastily.

"Y-yes.. uh, uhm, yes, that's uh, me." Tintin blinked at her stuttering but didn't call on it. Instead he stuck out his hand.

"I'm Tintin, a journalist," he said, prompting her to shake and introduce herself. The woman's face, which had just turned back to it's original color turned pink again. She hoped her palm wasn't sweating as she quickly but gently took Tintin's hand and shook it.

"Uh, I'm Dana... I'm.. uh, I'm also a journalist..er, not.. not as experienced as you, of course.. B-but, I erm, I am.. well, what.. I suppose, uh, you would call a professional," Dana had muttered quietly but just loud enough for Tintin to hear it. Tintin slowly nodded.

"Ah. Well, this is Snowy. Terribly sorry for him growling at you and your cat. He tends to get excited. I hope he didn't frighten your cat there," he said, glancing down at the mackerel tabby that had strangely kept her cool.

"N-no, we're quite fine..." said Dana.

"Wait... I remember at the vendor you said that you collected other certain models." Dana nodded.

"Er.. yes... I did..."

"Do you know much about them?"

"Well... I.. uh... I suppose I do know.. some... uh, certain details about my ships.."

"Would you happen to know anything about the Unicorn, then?" he asked gently. Dana slowly seemed to forget she was talking to him and began to think more about his question.

"Actually.. I do have a book about shipwrecks. I believe the Unicorn is mentioned," she admitted.

"Miss Dana, I have reason to believe something happened on that ship in the seventeenth century. May I see this book you have?"

"It's in my apartment," Dana blurted before she could stop herself, thinking more about the ship than the person she was talking to.

"May I come with you to get it?" asked Tintin. Dana froze for a moment or two, the shock of the person breaking through her thoughts.

"I...suppose, er.. yes, um, just this way..." she said hurriedly before rounding her cat back into the building and rather awkwardly leading the way back into her apartment. Tintin rose an eyebrow at Dana's behavior. One minute, she seemed terrified of him and Snowy, the next, once the Unicorn was mentioned, she became much more friendly, but once it involved him again... she'd probably be more comfortable if she were talking to a hungry tiger.

"Behave Snowy," he reminded his dog as he followed the scurrying woman. The woman jogged up a small flight of stairs and nervously unlocked an chocolate brown oak door with the numbers 239 in small gold digits on it and a brass doorknob. Without a glance at Tintin or Snowy, she scurried in, leaving the door open so they could walk through.

_Okay, think, Dana, think. You're kinda hosting someone now. Not just someone, I'm hosting __**Tintin!**_Dana thought, the last thought she thought with a flare of panic welding inside of her. She fought it back down as she ran into the kitchen, pretending to do something but really just trying to get her head together.

_No panicking. None. He probably already thinks you're ditzy by now. Alright. Hostess.. What do you do? Uh... make tea, run into the living room, offer him a chair, bring out the book he wants, give him some tea, and when he's done, see him to the door, say goodbye, shut the door. _She thought these thoughts as if planning an entire schedule for the day. Hurriedly she put a kettle on the stove.

In her living room, Tintin was busily looking at her models and the entire home. The living room was cosy, but not entirely spacious. It was more of a rectangular shape, and in one small end of the room was a book shelf, sporting many older looking books, and at the very top were two other model ships. Next to the book shelf was a brown wicker chair, and in the opposite corner was a more comfortable looking chair padded with red velvet.

On the other end of the room was a chocolate colored oak and glass cabinet that sported three models on the top, and six displayed through the glass on the two shelves. There was a small rug on the oak floor with a red pattern and brown tassels. The whole room had a more brown and red look, and was fairly dark due to the blinds that were still drawn. Tintin scratched his head. Why had this girl suddenly close the blinds upon seeing him?

_ Peppermint tea. Maybe he'd like that. It's all you got anyway. Okay, focus, cups are out, water is in the kettle, kettle on the stove. DON'T keep the man waiting. That's rude. Don't be rude. Give him the book. _Dana nervously coached herself. With a deep breath, as if she was going to jump into icy water, she strode back into the living room.

"Um... the book, uh, right here..." Dana murmured as she briskly walked to the bookshelf and scanned it for the book she was looking for. _Unicorn... Unicorn..._

"Triple masted... double decks... A privateer ship, it was. … Sir Francis Haddock was the captain. It ended up sinking, but he didn't go down with it. Ah yes, the mystery... the ship held normal things; molasses, tobacco, dates, rum, but there was a secret cargo as well. No one knew what it was, but Sir Francis Haddock said only a true Haddock would be able to find it..." Dana mused to herself, mostly by force of habit. She normally spoke to herself history of ships when she was thinking about them, and at the moment she had been reciting what she had read in the book.

Tintin had been listening to the whole thing carefully, not realizing she was speaking to herself rather than him.

"A mystery? Really? No one at all knows what the cargo was?" Tintin asked her, Dana was too deep in thought to register that _he_ was talking to her, and _she _was the center of his attention.

"There was something else... Sir Francis Haddock thought that his name was cursed, but many thought him mad. That was part of the mystery too. Also... no one really knows how the Unicorn sunk. But most think that the secret cargo went down with it... That I believe was the entire mystery... or at least what anyone else can know about it," she said, finally finding the book she was looking for and carefully pulling it out.

She gulped again as she slowly handed it to Tintin. Tintin took the book and began flipping through it, not noticing her strange behavior towards him.

"Would you... uh.. like.. like to sit down?" she asked, gesturing to the wicker chair. Tintin slowly nodded, not taking his eyes off the book.

"Yes, thank you," he mumbled, backing up and sitting down in the chair. A thin whistle emitted from the kitchen and Dana scampered to tend to it like a frightened rabbit. _Bad move, bad move, Dana. Should have offered the padded chair, it would have been more comfortable. Too late. It'd be odd if you offered him the other chair while he was already sitting down._ She scolded herself as she poured a cup of tea and walked slowly back over to Tintin, and without a word offered him the tea.

"Thank you, very much," he said with a nod as he took it, placed the saucer and cup in his lap, and turned back to the book. Finally with a small smile he closed it and looked up at Dana, who froze under his stare.

"Well, it appears you told me most everything I wanted to know, Dana. The book had a few extra details. May I look at your book shelf for other books that may have information on the Unicorn?" he asked. Dana, powerless for words, only nodded nervously. Tintin's smiled broadened.

"Thank you," he said, taking a sip of the tea, getting up, setting it on the chair and looking to the shelf, the book he was looking at tucked under one arm. Dana nervously looked at Maddy, who meowed, comfortingly (but also caused Snowy to bristle) How long would Dana have to pose as a hostess? Dana, who froze up and stammered at a simple second glance, had to pose as welcoming.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the street inside Tintin's apartment, someone tiptoed straight in without a second thought, smirking to himself at how easy this was and what a fool Tintin had been for forgetting to lock the window. He eased into the living room, gently tucked the Unicorn under one arm, and eased out. If the blinds had been opened, Dana surely would have noticed the burglar climbing out of a window she'd never forget as Tintin's.

**AN: Okay, I ENDED with a kinda exciting note? Right? Sorry it's a little slow, I'll try my best to pick up the pace. For all my readers to my previous Tintin and Eleanor, you'll notice I added a lot more setting? Does it make you happy? Only review if you wanna, I know pressure is not a fun thing to have on ya. **

**GIVE BROWNIE POINTS TO JEWEL, THE OWNER OF THIS ACCOUNT AND PUBLISHER AND POSTER AND ALL THAT OTHER... STUFF.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Allo! Here I am again, with another chappie! And I brought digital COOKIES! Nowww... Dancer1023...**

**Okay.. Dancer1023: You... you are the most awesome Tintin fan ever. And by the way, I have been reading your Katrina story for a while now. And I am hooked. HOOKED! I LOVE your story! I can't wait for your own update. But anyway, I see what you mean when you can relate Dana's panicked thinking to Katrina's very mysterious and uneasy way of thinking. In this chappie, you'll see I open up a teeny bit on a new side to Dana. Also, thank you for catching that fact about what Maddy would do, but, then she doesn't do it. It gets a little bit boring to read, (upon my rereading it) and your opinions and tips are MOST appreciated. I will follow as close as I can. And no, you are not snippy. You are awesome, let no one tell ya different. **

**To.. Guest: Thanks a lot! Glad you like the new character. And thanks, I tried UBER hard to be descriptive. **

**To Raven Winter: Request Granted. :) Thanks for favoriting!**

**To Free Spirit101: Thanks for following!**

Night had fallen, and Tintin was still at Dana's, pouring over most of her books for any other clue of the Unicorn. Most of the books had briefly mentioned the Unicorn, usually stating about its curious whereabouts and how it baffled historians, but nothing else was mentioned that he didn't know.

Dana, who was still trying to get used to Tintin in the house, fed Maddy and offered Snowy a little hamburger beef. He had received the food with some eagerness, but didn't allow himself to eat the beef as quickly as he really wanted, still a bit irked that this nice woman smelled like a cat.

Tintin had finished his tea long ago, and was still checking and rechecking books, eager for any clue more about the Unicorn. Finally, when it was already dark, he collected all the books by his feet and neatly put them back on the shelf.

"Well... I don't suppose there is anything more to learn..." he mumbled to himself as he fitted the last book in.

"Nothing more about the mystery?" Dana asked, once more forgetting that she was talking to someone and paying far more attention to the conundrum at hand.

"Nothing else from what you told me and what the book had said... I think I may have missed something," Tintin said, placing his hand across his mouth in a thoughtful manner.

"Missed?" asked Dana.

"I think I need to take a closer look at that model." Tintin turned to Dana, startling her and freezing her in place.

"Thank you very much for your help, Dana. I'll let you know if I find something else," Tintin took one of her hands and shook it. Everything but the arm he was lightly pumping up and down went rigid as he did this.

"Uh.. yes.. um... A-anytime.." Dana murmured. Tintin nodded, noticing but ignoring her stammering that only seemed to flow up in bouts.

"Come Snowy, we need to have another look at the Unicorn." Tintin rounded up his dog, and just like that, out the door he was gone. As soon as Dana closed the door after him, she breathed in a deep sigh of relief, then turned and leaned her back on the door. After leaning like that for a moment, she slid down into a sitting position, burying her head onto her knees. Maddy crept up to her, and meowed as if to ask if something was wrong.

"I am _not_ a hostess," was all Dana could say, her voice muffled from the billowing hair flowing around her face and the fact that her head was face down on her knees. She hadn't felt so awkward or embarrassed in all her life. But then again, there was another feeling she felt when she was looking into the Unicorn's history. She never payed very much attention to such a riddle as the Unicorn; herself being far too interested in _complete_ ship histories and her occupation as well.

Dana lifted her head and looked at Maddy. Maddy only moved to sit in a comfortable position. Dana was grateful that she had closed the blinds to her window earlier that day. Tintin would have seen her in this position if she hadn't.

Or would he have? At that moment, he was eagerly going back to his apartment, and discovering the lack of a particular model ship's presence on his cabinet in the living room. Tintin only stared at it where it should have been for a minute, then turning around in frustration growled out to himself.

"Of course it's gone! How could I have been so stupid?" he muttered, then looked out his window to the building across the street, at a certain window whose blinds had been drawn. Then Tintin's mind began to wander.

_Dana... she... she didn't... did she? Why was she so nervous about the whole thing? Why did she suddenly draw the blinds in such a panicked fashion at the mere sight of him? Could she, Dana, have stolen the Unicorn to add to her oh so precious collection? _

After dwelling on these thoughts for a bit, Tintin ran his hand over his quiff, slightly ashamed. The tuft of red hair flattened to his head for a moment, then sprang up again, making a soft _floof_ sound. Dana couldn't have stolen the Unicorn. The blinds were down the entire time of his stay, and she was at _attendance_ the whole time he was there. Besides, if she was so willing to steal straight from someone's apartment, she would have been jumping at the chance to buy the ship when she had the chance to in the _first _place. He himself got the ship with paying only a single _pound_, for crying out loud.

Still... it would be a fairly good idea to talk to her about the missing ship. He did say that he would let her know anymore news upon the matter if he got any. Yet, if Tintin was completely honest with himself, he did have a tiny thread of suspicions hanging over Dana's head. Forgetting his trench coat in the excitement, Tintin called Snowy and quickly made his way across the street.

_Bump Bump Bump Bump! _

Dana stifled a yelp and threw herself forward, landing on her face and streaming her neat black and cyan hair into two sections, one on either side of her head. She had still been moping on the floor with her back against the door. Tintin had knocked rather urgently upon the other side, which had startled Dana into her current position.

Maddy, who had fortunately moved from her spot in front of Dana a moment ago, (she would have certainly been pressed between Dana's belly and the floor if she hadn't) merely stared at Dana and lowered her eyelids halfway, giving her a look like she was annoyed with a very typical situation.

Almost as quickly as Dana had thrown herself to the oak deck, she sprang to her feet again, her cyan lock of hair falling right into the middle of her face.

_Bump Bump Bump Bump! _

Gasping in realization that there was someone at the door she had been leaning on, Dana tucked the lock behind her ear and wrenched the brass doorknob with both hands. Tintin stared back at her when the door was opened, an expression that was part perplexed and part concerned and part focused and eager wore across his face.

"Dana! Um.. Are you alright?" he asked, having heard the _ker-thump_ noise her body had made when it the floor, as well as the _plap_ noise her face made when it slammed into the floor, not to mention if he looked hard enough he could see that one of her freckled cheeks was partially red from the impact.

Freezing under his stare, Dana only nodded stiffly. Tintin slowly nodded back, then cleared his throat.

"Dana, the Unicorn.. It's _gone_," he said quietly. Dana's brow only furrowed as his words registered.

"Gone?" she parroted. Tintin nodded.

"I believe someone has stolen it." Dana leaned forward at this.

"Really?"

"Yes, and I think I may know who our thief is."

"Who? Where?"

* * *

**::~*~::~*~::**

**"**This is very odd, Tintin. What makes you think your burglar would be here?" Dana asked, once more forgetting she was speaking to someone and just trying to get her point across.

"A gentleman named Sakharine spoke to me earlier today when he wanted to purchase the model. He said he recently obtained this estate," replied Tintin, gesturing to the ominous creaky black iron gates of Marlinspike Hall.

** "**Hardly a subtle place for a thief to hideout... But this just doesn't make much sense... If he was so rich to buy this old place, he should have been rich enough to buy your model ship..." mused Dana, scratching her temple.

"He did offer me to name a price," pointed out Tintin as they crept closer and a nippy wind picked up around them.

"Yes, but if he was that generous with his money, he would have probably just followed you home and pestered you until you did give him the Unicorn. If he was so desperate that he stole it before he did that, he must be up to something. He must want something with that ship other than to put it on display..." Dana replied. Tintin paused and turned to her. Dana froze up again, the sudden attention reminding her that she was actually speaking to someone.

"...I never thought of that, Dana. I think you're quite right. There is something irregular going on here." If Dana had been paying attention to what he said, she would have pointed out that most robberies weren't most ordinary, but still being frozen up under his stare she only nodded responsively, causing Tintin to inwardly groan at her odd behavior acting up again, and turning back to the rather spooky gates.

With a happy purr, Maddy, who had faithfully gone along with them, easily fit her slim body through the bars and was sitting on the other side, looking at them expectantly. Dana turned her attention to her and chuckled.

"Very nice, Maddy, but we can't all do that," she said with a shake of her head. Tintin grabbed the rusty iron handles of the gate, right below the chain that wrapped both sides of it together and fastened them with a padlock, and began to pull and push.

Snowy, who had been growling softly in annoyance at Maddy's clever fitting as if she had been trying to show off, merely huffed and went around to a wall and appeared on the other side of the gate, growling again at Maddy. The cool tabby only ignored him.

Tintin shone the flashlight he had borrowed from Dana down on Snowy.

"How'd you do that?" he asked with a risen eyebrow. Snowy snuffed happily and led him around to a large hole in the wall surrounding the perimeter of the estate that was just large enough to crawl through.

"Clever boy," praised Tintin as he dropped down and entered, then turned to look at Dana, who was hesitating on the other side.

** "**What are you waiting for?" he asked with an impatient shrug. Dana only looked at the hole warily.

"Don't you suspect that this hole is large enough to notice? Sakharine should have noticed and blocked it up if he didn't want anyone entering," she replied.

"What's your point?" asked Tintin, still crouched down.

"My point is that I think that maybe he is expecting someone to enter through this way. What if someone is waiting on the other side?" Tintin looked around.

"I can't see anyone, I think we're alright, Dana. Now come on," he urged, finally straightening up. Dana only shrugged and carefully bent over to stoop into the hole.

"This place is a mess! Are you sure Sakharine has acquired it? It looks so... well... uninhabited I guess you could say," she whispered.

"That's what he said. But if he is expected to rob from someone's home I doubt he is expected to tell the truth as well," he replied. Dana stuffed her cold hands into the pockets of her layered dull purple fleece jacket.

"Then again, if this is his hideout, perhaps he wants it to look so uninhabited, so that no one would pester the property," Tintin added with a small shrug. Dana nodded. Maddy came up to Dana, rubbing against her leg. Tintin pointed Dana's flashlight up at a symbol at the top of the building.

"Look at that sign.. What do you suppose it means?" he mused, partially to himself. Dana only shrugged and shook her head.

"Wait a moment... that fish... It.. It is a Haddock fish! Ah, yes, Sakharine had mentioned that Marlinspike was the old Haddock's residence," Tintin said, turning to Dana. Before Dana could even stiffen as she usually did under his stare, they all heard a growl behind them. They whirled around to see a vicious looking rottweiler baring its teeth at them and barking. Dana gasped sharply, and stumbled backwards, which just so happened to be up the steps of the mansion. Not having expecting to stumble not only backwards, but _upwards_, Dana exhaled her gasp just as sharply as she had inhaled it and landed on her back to the stairs.

Tintin, on the other hand, turned and ran, which fortunately for him was pure sod and away from the mansion. The vicious rottweiler, running on instinct, followed the being that was running. Maddy, who had at first just simply been watching this, arched her back, bristled her tail, and took off after the rottweiler.

The unusual line of the man running from a dog, and the dog running from a cat, all ran for the cluster of thick trees and shrubs east of the mansion. Tintin grabbed a slightly bendy but thick tree branch as he ran and pulled it back, hoping for it to strike the dog and perhaps slow it down. The dog, seeing this coming, only timed it well, opened its strong jaws, and snapped the branch from where it hung.

Maddy, watching this with her studious eyes, timed the perfect moment when the dog had just snapped the branch (which had slowed him down by just a fraction of a moment) jumped and landed... her daily sharpened claws digging into the rottweiler coat that she had landed on. The dog swerved and howled loudly from the pain. Maddy only dug her claws deeper. The dog took to running in circles, trying to shake the firm cat off its back and wailing all the while.

Tintin stopped and watched Maddy, who, at the moment, resembled a cowboy in a rodeo, trying to tame a savage horse or bull as the rottweiler bayed, bounced, and sprinted around and around. After about seven circles, the rottweiler tried (while still running in circles) to turn its head and bite at the stubborn cat. Maddy rewarded its foolish intention with a quick and well timed swipe of her claws to the nose, drawing a bit of blood and making the rottweiler yowl louder, as if it was being tortured.

Tintin blinked. Maddy reset her claws into the coat and continued her dizzying ride, waiting patiently for the high strung canine to slow down a bit for her to calmly get off. The dog would not slow. Finally, Snowy popped out from a bit of shrubbery and barked at the dog. The dog slowly stopped in a fairly startled manner and crouched down. Maddy unhooked her claws, retracted them, and hopped off its back like a hyperactive child hopping off a carousel horse.

"Well done, Snowy! Good boy," said Tintin, stroking Snowy and looking up at Maddy. Maddy was simply sitting in front of him, a slightly prideful expression crossing her feline face and her tail wrapped around her feet with the very tip twitching, expectantly.

"...Maddy," Tintin regarded with a nod, sort of in a way of saying well done. Maddy slowly blinked her half lidded eyes, as if to say _'Of course. Will that be all, sir?'_ Snowy bristled a bit at this, but not as much as he had before.

Tintin blinked at this queer behavior coming from a cat, then shook it off and headed back for the mansion. Maddy hopped up the steps to Dana, who had been patiently sitting on the steps for Tintin's return, as if she had known what Maddy would do to fend off the rottweiler and what Snowy would do to help out. Dana stroked Maddy's jawline and stood up. Tintin cleared his throat.

"Well, I suppose now we should go in," he suggested. Dana turned her head to the mansion, and a small trace of an expression Tintin hadn't seen before faded into existence. The look appeared to be a partially eager, and a partially _impish_ trace of a smile that was threatening to appear.

_Impish?!_

Tintin had led the way with Dana's flashlight, opening the door with through a slightly shattered window and into a very dusty and worn down room in the mansion. Once in, Dana had taken to walking side by side instead of behind Tintin. Not that he had noticed much. They kept walking until they came across what appeared to be a glass case covered with an old white sheet.

Dana carefully made her way to it and pulled off the sheet, revealing a glass case, shattered in one spot. The clear glass revealed that on the inside of it, was the one and only Unicorn. With a satisfied smile, Tintin handed Dana the flashlight and reached inside to carefully slide the model out. Dana shone the flashlight upon the details of the ship.

"Wouldn't you know it..." she murmured. Tintin nodded.

"It appears we have caught our thief," said Tintin, turning the model over in his hands. Suddenly Maddy let out a warning yowl, and Snowy, with a moment's hesitation to realize what was happening, let out a warning bark. Dana looked down at the animals, but Tintin heard a small grunt behind him and turned, just in time to see a shadowy face and the glint of light reflecting off a candleholder before it collided with his head.

Dana shot her gaze back up as the figure was preparing for another blow. Reflexively, she shot her hand up, making the figure deliver his blow onto her forearm. With a painful grunt as her arm started to burn and tingle, Dana reached into her coat pocket and pulled out a black fountain pen with a gold point and top. In one swift moment, Dana aimed the fountain pen like someone preparing to throw a dart, and pressed the top of the pen in with her thumb, sending a spray of gooey ink into the figure's eye.

The figure yelled, and all at once lights appeared in the room, illuminating Snowy's barking figure, Maddy's hissing figure, Dana with her fountain pen, Tintin on the floor, a finely dressed figure with his hand to his eye, accidently smearing the ink over his eye all over his face, and next to the glass case in the room, was none other than the smug figure of Sakharine.

"Please, please. Might I have some more rather ladylike behavior from my guest?" he said, leaning half his weight onto his walking stick. Dana turned her head to him swiftly, not moving from her position with the aimed fountain pen and frowning confusedly. Sakharine only met her gaze with a superior smile. Tintin on the floor groaned. Sakharine turned his attention to him.

"Oh, welcome to Marlinspike Hall... Apparently you and your friend found your way in alright."

** And there we go. Thanks for reading, only review if you really want to. If you have any brownie points to give out, give them to Jewel, who is the owner of the account I am using, the one who published this story, and alerts me to any reviews, follows, and faves I get. Oh, no implied or direct profanity in the reviews por favor! See ya!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi guys! Here is another chappie chappie!**

**Now, only one shout out to my uber faithful reader-**

**Dancer1023: Thanks so much! I always enjoy getting reviews from you! And I have a weakness for brownies and all sorts of cookies. Your brownie points just made me so happy! Oh, and my publisher, Jewel, was ECSTATIC to receive your gift of brownie points too! Now, I do have an apology to offer you... because I remember after reading your review, I reread my chapter and found out that the page breaks somehow got lost. See, I write my story first in an open office document, then Jewel copies and pastes it into an update... so I'm thinking maybe Open Office spazzed when I gave Jewel the next update and that's how it lost the page breaks, BUT Jewel, being the little treasure she is (If you'll excuse the pun) has fixed it as soon as she found out, so you can reread the last chapter and it will make sense. I'm using a different kind of page break in this chapter, but even if it doesn't work, I worded it so that you wouldn't really be able to tell. Sorry for the confusion!**

**But... just, Oh, my, goodness... I CAN'T believe you caught the Indiana Jones reference! I LOVE the Indiana Jones series and I totally had that scene in mind when I wrote it! I didn't think anyone would catch it though! Marcus' line is one of my favorites, and the only reason I DIDN'T make Tintin say it was because, for one, I didn't think anyone would catch the reference and think that it was just a stupid joke, for another... well.. (Looks down) he was unconscious on the floor at the time... And at the time nobody in the room was sure he was even ALIVE.. I mean, the dude just got beaned with a candleholder... that's one of the ways to die in the board game "Clue" **

**But no worries! I didn't kill him in this chapter, if you can forgive the spoiler. But anyways, you are a sharp one, Dancer1023, because I seriously didn't think anyone would catch that reference. Anyways, here is the chappie! Enjoy!**

Tintin groaned, and slowly sat up, clutching his throbbing head. Dana slowly lowered her pen. Tintin finally made his way to his feet.

"We have come to retrieve my stolen property!" he said angrily. At that moment Dana noticed a butler standing next to Sakharine, holding the Unicorn. Tintin grabbed it from him, or at least tried to.

"First of all, I don't really follow you, my friend. Second, I'm afraid I don't really see how this young lady has to help you steal a ship," Sakharine said, smudging more ink around his eye in an attempt to wipe it off, while Dana simply rose her eyebrows and placed the pen back into her coat pocket.

_Said the man whom this young lady had just attacked. Or perhaps he was speaking to repair his ego._ She thought to herself.

"I think you do! You have stolen this model from my apartment. For goodness sake, it happened less than an hour ago!"

"Are you certain that is your ship?" Sakharine asked while Tintin tried again to retrieve the Unicorn. With a slight struggle, Tintin finally had the whole thing in his hands and he turned around.

"How couldn't it be? I bought this ship this afternoon, I brought it home, put it on a cabinet in the living room, then Snowy chased a cat around and then it..." Tintin paused and turned in slight surprise. "The mast broke..." he continued. Dana rose her eyebrows even higher at this, and slightly parted her lips.

_Maybe I should have bought that model ship. It didn't last a full twenty four hours in his apartment. It didn't last a full __five__ hours in his apartment. _She thought to herself, slightly remorseful for the broken ship.

"This isn't my ship..." said Tintin, fingering the mass that was still in one piece. Dana suddenly felt a flush of embarrassment taint her freckled cheeks. It WASN'T? She just trespassed, broke in, assaulted, and attempted robbery. Well, technically that was mostly Tintin's fault, but she was an accomplice.

"No, no I'm afraid not. And as much as I enjoy having guests to my abode, I don't believe this well qualifies as a 'visiting hour'," said Sakharine, grabbing Tintin and Dana by the shoulders and leading them to the door. Dana froze a bit under his touch and was about shrug out of it, but Tintin beat her to it. He turned around.

"But... it looks identical.. Why... and how would you have another Unicorn? And why would you want mine when you already have this one?"

"And why and who would someone steal _your_ Unicorn?" added Dana, taking a step towards the model that the butler had placed back in the case, the mystery captivating her attention.

"You two are quite an inquisitive duo now, aren't you?" said Sakharine, leaning his head to the right slightly and speaking as if to toddlers.

"Occupational manner," Dana murmured, just barely audible. The vexing tone of his voice propelling her to speak more than anything, if only two very soft words. Sakharine rose an eyebrow at her and frowned.

"Not very ladylike of you to speak back to your host. And I'm afraid there just isn't a story for either of you to investigate in this matter. So perhaps you should take your 'occupational manners' somewhere else," he said, gesturing to the door with his walking stick.

"How exactly do you know there is no story to be found in here?" asked Dana, lightly.

"It is all simply bad luck falling onto a bad family history," Sakharine began to explain, exasperatedly.

"So it is true that the Haddock family is cursed!" said Tintin triumphantly, taking a few steps toward Dana. Dana was slightly grateful, and slightly guilty for being grateful when Sakharine whipped his walking stick to block Tintin from going any further. Tintin started.

"So what else do you know?" he asked.

"What else is there to find?" Tintin countered, pushing the stick away. Sakharine whipped it around to his back.

"That depends on what you're looking for," Sakharine muttered, ominously.

"I'm looking for answers," Tintin replied.

_Oh, yes. __That__ c__ertainly clears things up._ Dana thought with a roll of her eyes.

"You're looking in the wrong place," Sakharine said, slowly lowering his walking stick.

_Apparently you both must have your private meaning for the word 'answers'. What am I missing?_ Dana thought.

"It's late. Perhaps the both of you should just go now. Please do not let your cat try to kill my dog again. Nestor, escort them, will you?" Sakharine said, turning around and walking to the farthest corner of the room. The butler obediently nodded and led the way to the front door. Dana creased her brow in thought and slight irritation at the sickly sweet mannerisms (and gender bias) of the so called gentleman.

"Sir, ma'am?" asked the butler when they were both outside. They both turned back.

"So sorry your ship broke," he continued, "I hope you found _all the pieces_," he leaned forward and whispered the last bit, "Things are so easily lost."

"Nestor! Where are you?" demanded a voice from inside.

"Good evening, sir, madam," the butler said, turning away, almost sheepishly, and closing the red door. Tintin turned to Dana.

"That was a rather vague conversation. Between you and Sakharine," Dana commented, sliding her hands into her coat pockets.

"Quite so. He is obviously hiding something," said Tintin, placing his hand over his chin in a thoughtful way and starting a brisk walk back towards the black gate with Snowy and Maddy following. Dana hesitated before bringing up the rear.

"What about you? Have you told me everything?" she asked. Tintin paused and turned back to her.

"Sorry?"

"You and Sakharine seemed to know something I don't know," Dana said with a shrug.

"I don't think that's true, Dana. I think he was just realizing that I may be finding something out about the Haddock history and the Unicorn. I'm quite sure you and I are equal in knowledge for the whole matter."

"You didn't tell me you broke the Unicorn," Dana countered blandly. Tintin opened his mouth to answer, and paused with his jaw hanging. Finally he nodded towards his dog.

"Actually that was Snowy's fault," he said finally. Snowy looked up at him and whined.

"You normally let your dog on cabinet tops?" Dana asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Yes-n-No. No, he was chasing a cat," Tintin explained.

"You normally let cats on cabinet tops." Maddy meowed up at Dana as if to ask _What's so wrong with that?_

"No! The cat had swung down from the ceiling lamp."

"How does a cat get on a ceiling lamp?" Maddy meowed again as if to ask _You obviously don't understand cats at all. _

"It-It climbed the curtains! Why am I even talking to you about this? It doesn't matter how the Unicorn broke!"

"What part broke?" Dana asked, lowering her eyebrows and pursing her lips thoughtfully.

"Uh- Look, see, there you go again."

"There I go again?"

"Asking about the unimportant things."

"The way I see it, they may be important, we just don't know how yet."

"Well what happens when they turn out to be unimportant in the end?"

"At least these are questions one of us is able to answer."

"Sorry?"

"You know how and when and where the Unicorn broke. We both want to know who and why someone stole your Unicorn, but neither of us can answer that. Besides, obviously, your model ship is worth something, even when broken. Otherwise someone wouldn't have stolen it." Tintin stared at her for a moment. Dana slowly came to realization that she had actually sort of gotten into a conversation with a person, cleared her throat awkwardly, set her jaw and looked down.

Tintin turned his eyes to the side.

"Moving on... What do you suppose he meant when he said that things are so easily lost?" he mused to himself as he turned around and continued his brisk walk, churning the dirt beneath his feet a bit, making a gritty sound. Dana sighed with relief through her nose and followed.

* * *

Before long, they were all walking back on the street to Tintin's apartment. Tintin was still musing to himself about the whole matter of what Nestor had said. Dana was still praying that Tintin wouldn't make eye contact with her ever again. The nerve she had! Suspecting if Tintin had forgotten to tell her something other that the fact that … _he broke the ship?! _What business of it was hers anyway? And it was just a stupid ship! Who cared if it broke?

And then gabbing on about her father's old philosophy. _'What if these things that seem to be unimportant, really are important. We just don't know how yet. At least these are questions that we can answer._'

Of all the nonsense she could have spouted, (and she knew she could have spouted _all kinds_ of nonsense) She spouted out her father's philosophy. But, it was too late to take it back. Apologizing would just be awkward. So, there they walked. Tintin musing to himself under his breath, and Dana scolding herself under hers.

"Dana?" Tintin said when he got to the apartment door, turning around. Dana prayed he wasn't looking at her and kept her own gaze down.

"Mm?" she hummed, nervously. Tintin mentally scowled with annoyance. There she goes again with that odd shut up behavior. Taking a breath, he started again.

"Dana, would you please come in to my apartment? Perhaps we'd be able to put what is going on here in order if we worked together." Dana, as discreetly as she could, shot Maddy a panicked look.

"I.. suppose..." she muttered. Tintin slowly nodded and gestured for her to follow him. Dana continued to scold herself.

_Really, Dana? REALLY?! The man is inviting you into his apartment, and all you can say is 'I suppose?' REALLY!? You should have thanked him. He was being __generous__ for heaven's sake! That, and NOW you have to spend MORE of this evening helping him. You could have graciously declined. Or if that would be too awkward, you could have said your head hurt, and you were going home to rest, and then never look at him ever again. Well, at least maybe it's not to late to say thank you for being so generous? _She thought, then cleared her throat.

"Em.. Tintin? Uh... Th-thank you," she muttered as kindly as she could. Tintin half turned back to her and nodded.

"Don't mention it," he said with a half smile. Well, she was being polite. He turned back and Dana sighed again with relief. Right before they entered the apartment, Maddy and Snowy bristled at the exact moment, paused, looked at each other, then looked back to the door and bristled again.

"Maddy? Maddy, what's the matter?" Dana asked. Maddy let out a warning yowl in reply, arching her back at the door. Snowy began to sniff around the base of the door and slowly pushed it open with his muzzle. Tintin gripped Dana's flashlight and turned it on and he slowly walked in. After a moment, he flicked on the light switch.

"Great Snakes!" Dana heard him cry in surprise. She blinked.

"Snakes?" she asked, opening the door wider and slipping in. She widened her eyes when she saw the entire apartment ransacked. Food was sprayed all over the floor with the refrigerator door open. Drawers from the desk were wide open or pulled out altogether. Furniture pieces were overturned, curtains pulled and torn, and the window was wide open.

_Okay, I seriously doubt that a dog and cat chase caused __this__. _She thought to herself. Snowy, by Tintin's feet, gave a short howl and headed straight for a back corner of a cabinet.

"Snowy? What is it boy?" asked Tintin, following. After a moment, he grabbed the sides of the cabinet and heaved it to the side, where he found a small cigarette sized cylinder made of metal, small ivy like curls engraved into it. Dana got looked at it closely as he held it up.

"And.. what is that?" she asked.

"Ah ha! This was in the mast!" Tintin proclaimed victoriously. He quickly handed Dana her flashlight and headed over to his ransacked desk. Dana stared at him a moment, the flashlight frozen in her hand.

"Pardon me Tintin, but I'm starting to think that I'm falling behind in the full awareness of the situation again. That metal tube came from the mast you say? Of the Unicorn?" she asked.

"Yes, yes, of course," he muttered as he focused most of his attention onto the cylinder.

"So it was the mast that you broke," she asked.

"Yes..." Tintin murmured. Snowy came by with his magnifying glass in hand. Tintin grabbed it.

"Good boy, Snowy," he murmured.

"So what part of the ship broke _actually was_ a bit important if that is what fell out. That tube must be what your thief was after," Dana pointed out.

"Yes, indeed," said Tintin, seizing both sides of the tube between each pointer finger and thumb, and gently pulling apart. Dana carefully repositioned the knocked over lamp so that Tintin wouldn't burn the paper he pulled out with the light and magnifying glass.

"Dana, there is a poem written here! In old english! Sir Francis must have wrote it himself!" Dana rose her eyebrows and walked around Tintin to see over his shoulder where he sat.

"Three brothers joined... Three Unicorns in company... sailing in the noonday sun will speak..." Tintin began to read aloud.

"Three brothers? Three Unicorns?" quizzed Dana, raising an eyebrow.

"Dana, if they were after this... and they didn't get it... then they will be back for it," said Tintin, locking his eyes unto Dana. Both of them whirled around when they heard a jingling noise from downstairs.

**Dun Dun Dun! Well, that's it. Chapter four. Hey, you guys don't think that Dana is a Mary Sue, do you? I mean, she is smart and all, but what Mary Sue slams her face into the floor when she gets a knock at the door? If she is, just let me know and I'll fix it. Only review if you wanna, hope you liked the new chapter. If you do review, no implied or direct profanity please! **


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry, I went from updating weekly to disappearing off the face of the earth! So sorry. I know you guys have heard all the excuses from long periods between updating, so I won't waste your time. But hey, on the lighter note, this story is now officially longer than the last one I tried to write, so I think I just may finish it! **

**Quick shoutouts! THANK YOU PEEPS FOR FAVORITING AND FOLLOWING! You all get a free hug from Maddy. And if you don't like cats, from Snowy. And if you don't like animals.. well... Captain Haddock's open. **

**Haddock: What?**

**Mary: XD. Anywho... Dancer1023, You be awesome once more. I hope you like this next chapter, I hope I'm not losing my touch, and thanks thanks thanks thanks SO MUCH for being so constant with reviewing and all that. You know what, this next chappie is dedicated to you. YOU HEAR THAT PEOPLE?! CHAPPIE CHAPPIE 5 IS IN APPRECIATION TO DANCER1023. Just wanted to let you know. **

**Tintin: Great Snakes! Dancer1023, you are quite the kind soul!**

**Mary: Hee hee. Anyways, uhh, Dream Lighting, well, glad you think it isn't bad. And do you think Tintin and Dana should end up together? Hmm... maybe chappie number six will have a little... fluff in it? Lemme know if you think there should be fluff. **

"Come on," Tintin whispered to Dana, heading downstairs. Dana reached into her coat pocket and clutched her fountain pen for good luck as she followed Tintin.

"I don't know where he is, sir, I think he went out with some young lady," said Mrs. Finch, the landlady as she spoke to ghosty blue silhouette out the door, right as Tintin and Dana made it down the stairs. Dana rose an eyebrow at Mrs. Finch's wording.

_Went out with some young lady? As if..._She thought to herself.

"And besides it's after dark, and Mr. Tintin is very particular about visitors after bedtime..." she continued.

"Thank you Mrs. Finch, I think we'll take it from here," Tintin interfered. Dana rose an eyebrow. _Great. That just probably __confirmed__ her suspicions. _

"Hey, hey kid, is that you? Open the door," a shaky familiar voice came from behind the door. Dana stopped halfway downstairs in surprise as Tintin continued into the entry way. Her eyes widened even more as she saw Tintin load a handgun's magazine behind his back, and for a moment she almost felt lightheaded. She jumped when she felt two imprints pressing against her leg, right on the hem of her skirt, and looked down in relief when she saw Maddy standing on her hind legs and stretching her front paws up on her leg.

"What is it, girl?" Dana asked. Maddy responded by extracting her claws and digging them into the hem of her skirt and tugging, as if to say _Let's get out of here. Now. _Dana would have listened to her seemingly wiser cat, if not the man at the door had not whispered urgently to Tintin and made her head snap up in surprise.

"I'm trying to tell you, that your life is in danger! And don't involve that girl either, you'll only drag her in too!"

"What?" said Dana, her tone very disbelieving.

"Who are you talking about?" Tintin said, successfully much more intimidating than Dana's frightened squeak. Dana finally noticed that Tintin's handgun was pointed at the door.

The next moment was so chaotic, it seemed to go in slow motion for all of them. Multiple gun shot sounds filled the air, and everyone reacted their own way, but only one was well thought out. The man at the door pressed himself flat against the door, which unfortunately was the flying bullets' destination as well.

Dana, struck so stupid she couldn't even scream, gripped the stair banister with both hands and, without thinking about what she was doing, launched herself headfirst over it and forgot to try to land on her feet. For the second time that day, the front of her body ker-thumped as it met the floor, and the flat of her hands along with her face made a plap sound.

_And I just got over the first blood force trauma._ Flashed through Dana's mind ironically as she refused to move until the gun shots stopped. Maddy had jumped down from the stairs next to Dana, but with her reflexes, landed as gracefully as a ballerina returning from a leap. Snowy, who was right behind Maddy, scurried a few steps back up the stairs.

Tintin had wisely, (though he didn't have time to deem it wise) ducked down into a ball right where we was standing as the shots flew through first the man at the door, then the door, then over his head into the stairs right where Snowy had been.

Once the moment had ended, Maddy sat calmly by Dana, Dana's leg twitched slightly, Tintin sat up at pointed his gun at the door, Snowy ran to his master, and the man at the door pushed against the wood. The door opened eerily to reveal the first man who had tried to purchase the Unicorn from Tintin, he stood there in shock for a moment.

"...Good move, kid," he said in a choky voice. Tintin and Dana had plenty of time to view the bloody spots on his chest and stomach before he fell first to his knees, then to his face.

Dana had a moment of nausea in the pit of her stomach after witnessing the spots, but once they were hidden when the figure had fallen, Dana's body forgot her mind. Her mind was screaming unanswerable questions and exclamations, but her legs made her get up and run over, as if on their own accord. Tintin was already hovering over the man's body.

"Mrs. Finch! A man just got shot at our doorstep!" Tintin yelled at the top of his lungs. Said woman sprinted back into view and glimpsed the body.

"Not a-" she started.

"Call an ambulance! Hurry!" Dana cut her off, just as a car screeched by. Tintin and Snowy ran after it, Mrs. Finch ran off to the telephone, and Dana gently flipped the man over.

"Just... uh... just lie still, sir," she whispered, seeing he was still alive and awake.

_Wow, de ja vu. _Part of her mind whispered.

_Shut up! _The more conscious part that she controlled snapped back.

"K...Kara... Kara..." the man said. He seemed to be able to start whatever he was saying fine, but the rest trailed off into a breathy and strained exhale. What was he trying to say? Did he have a daughter named Kara? Did he think that Dana was someone he knew named Kara?

"Shh. Don't try to speak, just lay back. We're calling a hospital right now," Dana promised.

_ Don't let him speak. You know what happened the last time when-_ Dana's subconscious whispered again.

_SHUT up!_ Her conscious barked.

"No... the... the Kara... caribou..." he tried again. Dana paused. Caribou? The man was dying with many bullets creating excruciating pain right now, and his very possibly last words was going to be another term for a reindeer or water buffalo?

Dana noticed his fingers, which had once been over a bloody spot on his chest, gently tapping a newspaper he had. A moment after tapping a letter N, the man closed his eyes and lie back. Dana's eye widened, and before her subconscious could say anything, she hovered her hand in front of his mouth and nose, and, after feeling a small weak puff of air, confirmed herself that he was still alive. Although she was still a little shaken after the whole incident with the gunshots, (not to mention slightly baffled at his last word being a north american animal, and he had seemed so desperate to say it.) she had managed to keep a fairly calm demeanor when Tintin returned and the lights and alarms of an ambulance displayed themselves nearby.

Dana had gone home soon after the man, who eventually was identified as Barnaby Dawes, was taken to the hospital. Tintin had suggested that they exchange phone numbers in case something else happened the next day. Dana had agreed, but silently prayed that no other incidents of such intensity ever happened again. (And had even nudged Maddy firmly with her foot, after she wrote the phone number down and gave it to Tintin, and Maddy had responded with a purr and suggestive half lidded eyes.)

Dana awkwardly shook Tintin's hand before leaving his still ransacked apartment, and Maddy said goodbye to both Snowy and Tintin (Tintin by rubbing once against his leg, and to Snowy by slithering her flexible back underneath his chin in a friendly manner. Snowy didn't growl, but his face showed that he considered both actions to be obnoxious)

When Dana had closed the door to her apartment and locked it, she stared at it a moment, silently ordering it not to sound off any more knocks. She was DONE for the night, and that was that. Maddy nipped the hem of her skirt and tugged a bit, gaining Dana's attention, then sat back and flicked her tail back and forth. _You seem to be getting more comfortable with that Tintin chap._ Her posture seemed to hint. Dana rolled her eyes and took out her fountain pen. She sat down at her desk, refilled the pen, and began to write a letter to her father.

_**Dear Father,**_

_** It seems I've gotten tangled in a mess again. And not like when Jerry conned me into playing football with him and though I ended up catching the ball and scoring, my nose ended up broken. No, this one seemed life threatening. **_

_** This young man seems to want my help, but I can't imagine why. I must admit, deep down, it is irritating. **_

_** All that aside, Father, I think you should know that I almost got shot today. I've never been in a more dangerous or stranger situation than that. I tried to help the man that did get shot, and his last word before he passed out was 'Caribou'. I really, really don't know. **_

_** It is late Father, and I am turning in now. **_

_** Your ever loving daughter, **_

_**Dana Mireya McFarland**_

Tintin himself was very tired. He had bought an antique, had it stolen, broken in to someone's estate, gotten whacked with a metal candleholder, had his entire apartment ransacked, discovered some secret riddle (which he stored safely in his wallet) and gotten shot at, all in one day. Not unusual, but very tiring. After Dana had gone home, Tintin's old detective friends Thompson and Thomson had come to ask him a few questions about the whole incident, and after many roundabout runs with them and their really pointless questions, he finally convinced them to give it a rest and he'd continue tomorrow, with his new colleague to help with details. Once they turned towards each other, crashed into each other, stumbled back to their feet and left, Tintin rolled his eyes and looked down at Snowy. They really did ask the most pointless questions.

_ Of course, we aren't really aware of how pointless they are. They could be important, we just don't know it yet. _The thought flashed across his mind, like lightning. Being there, brilliant and impossible to miss for one moment, and gone without a trace in the next. He hummed curiously to himself, remembering that that thought was a paraphrase of what Dana had said earlier. _Yes, but she also added that these were questions that we can answer. I don't know the answer or the importance of the questions Thompson and Thomson asked me. _

Tintin quickly got ready and went to sleep, not bothering to pick up his ransacked apartment.

The next morning, Dana's telephone rang. She yelped once in surprise, as her telephone seldom rang, and then yelped once more when the cup of tea she had just been pouring herself spouted it's contents onto the front of her blouse and skirt after being upset from the sudden jolt. Maddy glanced up at her, lowered her eyelids, and continued drinking from her own water bowl.

The burning liquid tingling her skin through her shirt and skirt and leggings, she tried to place her teacup and saucer down on a coffee table without dropping them, she rushed to the phone and answered it.

"Hello?" she asked into it timidly.

"Dana, it's Tintin," the voice inside replied. Dana resisted the urge to hang up the phone and hide in her bed.

"Uhh.. hello.." she said awkwardly.

"Dana, the police are coming here to talk about the incident last night, I need you to come over," Tintin said.

"Oh, heh, is that all?" Dana asked, somewhat relieved. She had lots of experience explaining things to police in her line of work, and they might be the only kind of people she wasn't so afraid of talking to.

"Yes, they just need to go over some questions with us."

"Alright, um," Dana glanced down at her now partially faint brown outfit, "Just give me a few minutes to get ready, I'll be right over."

It would be safe to say that the police Tintin was referring to, were not like anything Dana expected. When they first met, the both of them simultaneously hooked their matching polished wooden canes over their left arms, and reached out their right hands and leaned forward to shake. The problem was, at the particular angle they were at, they ended up bouncing off one another like repelling magnets. They reminded Dana a bit like Tweedledee and Tweedledum, only their bouncing, fumbling and stumbling was not part of a deliberate clumsy dance.

This made it a little more awkward for her to talk to them (especially when she got to the part where Barnaby had last said 'caribou'. Although they treated this like it was information that would save the world.)

Finally Tintin spoke up about the newspaper with bloody marks all over it from when Barnaby had been tapping it with his finger.

"I think he was trying to tell Dana something last night, but because he couldn't really talk at the moment, he spelled it out with this newspaper," he said, pointing to all the bloody red letters. He picked up a pencil and began to write all the marked ones down.

K-A-R-A-B-O-U-D-J-A-N he spelled out.

"Great scotland yard!" Thompson (or Thomson) exclaimed.

**I leave you hanging. HA! Sorry. So, I tried to edge Dana a little farther from Mary Sure this time. Sorry for all you peeps who are getting tired of her outbursts, but I couldn't resist tossing the girl over a banister when she's halfway up the stairs. And just so you know, caribou is a reindeer, carabao is a water buffalo. But you know, the guy was dying, Dana didn't really have anytime for specifics. Anyways, only review if you wanna. NO PRESSURE! But no implied or direct profanity either please, as always. **


End file.
